KARACHI, May 5: A hypnotic rendition of Bosnian traditional Sufi singing featured prominently on the second night of the International Mystic Music Sufi Festival, held on Friday at Karachi’s Baradari.
The group, Choir Hazreti Hamza, made up of several young Bosnians, was one of many local and foreign performers featured at the festival, which will continue til May 7. The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW), organisers of the festival, seemed to have smoothed out the rough edges that plagued the opening night of the event, as Friday night’s performances were an almost uninterrupted marathon of Sufi music, with few interruptions.
Iqbal Bahoo kicked off the evening’s proceedings, which was followed by Shankar Mohan Bhagat, who rendered the verses of Shah Abdul Lateef Bhittai.
The first foreign troupe to perform on Friday night was Morocco’s Aissaoua Brotherhood, devotees of the 15th century Sufi Shaykh Abd Allah Sidi Mohammad Ben Aisa as-Sufiani al-Mukhtari. The Brotherhood put on a colourful, boisterous display of their rituals, known as hadhra.
Senegal’s Mafatihul Bishri delivered a khassaide in praise of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him), which was a lengthy vocal invocation, with the verses penned by Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, founder of the Mouride Sufi order in Senegal. Algerian ensemble, Nadi el Hilal Eptakafi, presented a few tunes, including the song Abdel Kader, made famous by rai singer Khaled. But its subject matter is far from pop fluff, as it is a traditional tune honouring Algerian Sufi and freedom-fighter, Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi.
Out of all the performers the Bosnian Choir Hazreti Hamza stood out by far. Dressed in green vests and traditional fez caps, they delivered three mesmerising renditions of Bosnian spiritual music known as Ilahije i Kaside.
The Bosnians ended their transcendent performance with Salawat and Fateha, an apt ending to a class act.
